Areas where Liverpool need to improve

Liverpool trounced Newcastle United 6-0 on Saturday to show the world what the team is really capable of. Playing with the aplomb of champions, the Reds never gave their hosts a chance to sneak back into the game – the ruthless efficiency of Daniel Sturridge and Jordan Henderson made sure of that, while the Brazilian Coutinho danced circles around the defence. This is not Liverpool’s first big victory of the season, having disposed of teams with 5-0 and 4-0 margins on quite a few occasions this season.

But not on enough occasions.

The Reds have been maddeningly inconsistent the whole year around, failed to grab the impetus when needed, haven’t been able to score to save their lives in some games, and frankly they’ve been unlucky a few times. These inconsistencies are the reasons why Liverpool aren’t in the Top 4 currently. It is something that the Reds have to rectify in time for the 2013-14 season, if they want to play in the Champions League for the first time since 2009 and get back into Premier League title contention, something that seems like forever ago.

Some of the measures Liverpool can take to rid these inconsistencies are:

Buy a centre-back who’s comfortable with the ball at his feet

Jamie Carragher is retiring at the end of the season, the end of a long glorious playing career, and will leave a void that may never be filled, not in terms of quality but in terms of the passion he wore like a badge of honour every second he represented the club, be it the Champions League final or a mere friendly.

Carragher has enjoyed a new lease of life in his last campaign, and since he replaced Skrtel in the line-up, the defence has been markedly better. Now less prone to conceding stupid goals due to individual errors, the side has lost only one of their last nine games in the league. Skrtel seems unsuited to Rodgers’ system of play, and it started showing as early as the second game of the season when his mistake directly led to Tevez’s decisive equalizer at Anfield.

The rest of the defence has adjusted to the system, with the full-backs in particular showing remarkable improvement. The Reds would do well to buy a defender in the mould of a player like Gerard Pique, tactically aware and comfortable with the ball.

Possible targets include Swansea’s Ashley Williams, Real Sociedad’s Inigo Martinez and Shaktar’s Yaroslav Rakitskiy, but lack of Champions League football may dissuade these targets. Another option would to be finally give Sebastian Coates a chance to shine, as the young Uruguayan has been rotting for two seasons at Anfield, and he is quite a talent.

If Lucas doesn’t improve over the summer, buy a new holding midfielder

I get it. Lucas suffered two horrific injuries in succession, and it would take him a while to regain his 2011 form. However, the feisty Brazilian has been back for months now, and we have only seen glimpses of his once-tenacious form. Lucas has been overrun by rivals quite often this season, the 3-1 defeat against Southampton standing out. The Brazilian has been clumsy, and uninspiring to say the least.

Lucas’s job is to primarily break up play and dish out a few key passes, and averages a league high of 4.6 tackles per game. He is a good player, one of the best, but just like his team, he has become maddeningly inconsistent.

For the sake of squad depth, signing a new young defensive midfielder would be a good move, as Liverpool have no other true defensive midfielder, and Joe Allen isn’t one. Liverpool’s season fell apart after Lucas’s injury in 2011-12, and the Reds need to take care to make sure that doesn’t happen.

I believe that Lucas will be once again back to his consistent best, and recently signed a new long-term contract. However if inconsistent displays continue to be the norm, Rodgers just might start looking elsewhere.

An attacking midfielder like Christian Eriksen

The Reds are currently overloaded with central midfielders, with four in the squad. In the past, Steven Gerrard was Liverpool’s primary attacking midfielder, but has moved further behind to prolong his career. The likes of Henderson and Allen are good players, but none of them possess Juan Mata-type abilities to link-up with the strike force and destroy a team from the centre. They do not offer exceptional penetrating abilities, nor a constant amount of goals.

Neither player can be a true playmaker, but a name constantly linked to Liverpool can. Ajax’s Christian Eriksen is an extremely talented player with sound footballing education, and has been praised by and even compared to Danish legends Brian and Michael Laudrup by the legendary Johan Cruyff.

Eriksen is a versatile midfielder, capable of playing behind the striker, on the wings, and even in a deeper role. He has an excellent passing range, ability to pick out a key pass, and scores a decent amount of goals. He has the ability to compete with the likes of Mata and Silva when it comes to the highest amount of assists in the league.

Playing behind the striker in a traditional playmaker’s role is where he’s at his best, and has all the quality to build up a fantastic rapport with Suarez, Coutinho and Sturridge.

Despite the Reds lacking Champions League football, Eriksen could be enticed to Anfield with regular playing time in a young team that is carrying immense potential. Squad depth would also be improved once again with such a player, and the Reds would boast an even better offensive line next season.